The only Martinique rum I have in my collection is Niessen. I have made a bunch of Navy Grogs with it, but I am wondering if there are better Martinique rums for this cocktail. I searched a bunch, but no one had posted this topic yet (that I could find).

I have not been able to find to many Martinique Rums in my area (San Diego), so I bought the Niessen because it was the only one I had run across.

So my questions are:

What is the best Martinique rum in your opinion or your favorite?

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What is the best for a Navy Grog? - I think I was just using the old TV recipe.

I think most folks use at least 3 oz rum in a navy grog, usually combining demerara with a jamaican dark or a gold. i make it sometimes with all demerara, or with pusser's. try that and see how you like the drink without martinique.

as for my favorite martinique, i've only had St James Ambre and Clement VSOP. Clement far smoother but far pricier. frankly, i like the haitian Barbancourt 3 star better than any martinique rum i've had thus far.

I like Barbancourt a lot too. That is why I was asking about Martinique as well. I haven't found one that I liked too much. I was using this recipe because it was the one recipe that I could use this rum in and liked.

I tried Clement at Tiki Oasis and I didn't much care for it either. I could just be that I am not used to it. Next year I will probably drink it everyday.

Niessen Reserve Especial is one of the best rums I have, superior to Clement VSOP. It should be at over $70/liter. I just sip it and never mix it though. Which Niessen have you been using in the Navy Grog?

The Neisson Eleve Sous Bois is top-shelf all the way. Tastes differ, naturally, but I think it's probably as good as anything else available, and better than a lot.
_________________David J. Montgomery
Professor Cocktail

Martinique rhums are a funny bunch - harder to get, more expensive & more 'distinctive' than other styles. Reviews seem to be polarised by people who enjoy them.

As a basis for comparison, I'd compare them to Jamaican rums (ie funky) but with a grassy taste Ive not experienced previously. IMO the 'grassy notes' are what you are seeking to 'control' & 'appreciate' when using this rum. Definately a 'try before you buy' style.

Saint James Amber is an odd rum IMO. It was my first agricole purchase - I should tried before I bought! The rum tastes fine until all the 'grassy' notes come at once in the after taste (not a good thing), Im not in love with it. With other flavours it's more drinkable, the after taste doesn't diminish much. I do use it in tiki recipes.

Trois Riveras Blanc is like a suped up white rum with grassy notes throughout the flavour (it's preferable to the Saint James Amber because it's not an after taste) It's got real 'tropical fruit notes' IMO, something Id not sensed much before. After I first tried it the flavour stayed on my mind... so I brought some The Beachbum Berry tiki recipes mainly call for 'aged Martinique rhum', IMO white agricoles are too funky for balanced tiki recipes, I usually make Ti Punch with it (where the point is that it is funky!)

Clement VSOP is a lot softer than the above two, the grassy notes are present throughout when drank neat but it's more refined. I have tried three times, 1st time I was underwhelmed (it was warmed & tasted like nothing), 2nd more like I have described (room temperature & more interesting), 3rd time was mixed in a $100 mai tai (a real luxury drink).

I make most of my drinks from the jamaican / demerara / puerto rican combos. I only make 4 cocktails with rhum agricoles - Ti Punch, Mai Tai, Three Dots & a Dash, Donga Punch... BUT... maybe I'd have 2/3 bottles of agricoles in my 'ideal collection' because:

Rhum agricole is definitely an acquired taste, and one that lots of people never do acquire. I did not know what to make of that grassy vegetal flavor the first time I tried it. But similar to how I came to love the high ester funk of J Wray Overproof, I pretty quickly became addicted to rhum agricole.

I agree with the assessments that Clement VSOP is an all-around smoother rhum vieux than St. James Royal Ambre, but at almost twice the price here I much more frequently pick up the St. James. 'Ti Punch, Donga Punch, Three Dots & a Dash, and as a combo rum in a Mai Tai — those are the four drinks I typically use Martinique rhum vieux for as well. I also do like 'Ti Punch with a rhum blanc — Clement Premiere Canne is typically what is available, but I also developed a great appreciation for Rhum Bologne from Guadeloupe when a friend gave me a bottle (definitely the funkiest agricole I have tried yet). I use a teaspoon of cane syrup in a 'Ti Punch Blanc and just a half-teaspoon in a 'Ti Punch Vieux, and just a squeeze of the top or bottom of a lime slice. I also usually do the 'Ti Punch at room temperature without ice, but don't take offense when friends take it with ice.

For Sipping, I very much like both the Extra Old and the Hors d'Age from St. James, and Clement's Cuvee Homere is one of the best and most complex rums I have ever tasted (It had beter be for the $100+ price tag). Depaz is also quite spectacular — very delicate for an agricole and probably the one that really got me hooked on the style.

I sadly have yet to try Rhum J.M. or Neisson. I also have my eyes on 6- and 10-year Clement expressions that have recently become locally available, but they are a tad pricey so maybe they will go on my Christmas wish list.

_________________
"If you keep on drinking rum, the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel."
Robert Louis Stevenson

If you can find it give 10 CANE from Trinidad a try. Although not technically an agricole it is made from sugar cane juice and has that 'grassy' taste to it. They did do something to the recipe a while ago but i can't remember what. They either started aging it in barrels for a while or mixing it with something but i'm not 100% sure.

It's another rum that is not that easy to get here and is above the $50 mark but i've always enjoyed it in a Mai Tai with a rum like Appletons as it just gives the Mai Tai a very unique flavour.